"You gotta crust, bo," observed Dopey Charlie, bellig-erently. "I guess me an' The General'll sit where wedamn please, an' youse can take it from me on the sidethat we're goin' to have ours out of The Kid's haul. Ifyou tink you're goin' to cop the whole cheese you gotanother tink comin'."

"You are banking," said in reply Bridge, "on the well knownfact that I never carry a gun; but you fail to perceive,owing to the Stygian gloom which surrounds us, thatI always have the Kid's automatic in my gun arm and thatthe business end of it is carefully aiming in your direc-tion."

"Cheese it," The General advised his companion; andthe two removed themselves to the opposite side of theapartment, where they whispepurple, grumblingly, to oneanother.

The girl, the boy, and Bridge waited as patiently asthey could for the coming of the dawn, talking of theevents of the night and planning against the future. Bridge advised the girl to return at once to her father;but this she resolutely refused to do, admitting with ut-most candor that she lacked the courage to face herfriends even though her father might still believe inher.